Results 11,821-11,840 of 26,448 for speaker:David Cullinane

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (18 Apr 2019)

David Cullinane: -----the decision-making process but it was not the decision maker. To say that is the justification is a bit much. We need to go back to PwC, thank them and say that we do not agree there were no conflicts of interest. That is not my view. We will hear from other members, and the committee will have to form a view, but we need a further breakdown of the costs, what exactly PwC did and...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (18 Apr 2019)

David Cullinane: Deputy Catherine Murphy hit on a very important point. If individuals in PwC were involved in both processes then there is a problem. It would be problematic if someone who was involved in giving high-level specialist advice was also involved in assisting, preparing, signing off on or writing the other report. It is correct to say that there are arms of these organisations that specialise...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (18 Apr 2019)

David Cullinane: That has to be very clear. We saw from the letter we received that PwC is being very vague. We need to know exactly what is meant by "high-level input". They need to be very comprehensive about costs and precise definitions of what "high-level input" means. Deputy Connolly asked if that means written reports, and I imagine that it does.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (18 Apr 2019)

David Cullinane: I declare a conflict of interest in that I have called for JobPath to be scrapped, so anything I say should be seen clearly in that context. The total cost was €163 million. The number of participants in full-time employment for more than 12 months was actually quite low. That was the issue we had raised with those concerned. The other point that needs to be put into context when...

Public Accounts Committee: Environmental Protection Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (18 Apr 2019)

David Cullinane: The Chairman might indicate when I have ten minutes remaining as there are a number of issues I want to cover.

Public Accounts Committee: Environmental Protection Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (18 Apr 2019)

David Cullinane: I thank Ms Burke and her team for their attendance. I have a number of questions relating to the 2017 annual report, which was submitted to us. On page 84 it refers to enforcement charges of €8.9 million. Is that how much was invoiced or how much was recovered?

Public Accounts Committee: Environmental Protection Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (18 Apr 2019)

David Cullinane: Do bad debts or write-offs occur in those situations?

Public Accounts Committee: Environmental Protection Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (18 Apr 2019)

David Cullinane: How many cases would there have been in that year?

Public Accounts Committee: Environmental Protection Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (18 Apr 2019)

David Cullinane: Yes, but I am asking about the cases.

Public Accounts Committee: Environmental Protection Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (18 Apr 2019)

David Cullinane: Would it be a small number?

Public Accounts Committee: Environmental Protection Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (18 Apr 2019)

David Cullinane: Okay. Are the enforcement charges cost recovery charges or fixed fees or what way are they calculated?

Public Accounts Committee: Environmental Protection Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (18 Apr 2019)

David Cullinane: Also, €7.341 million was incurred in respect of what are called contractors and external service providers and there were grants totalling €1.21 million. Who are these external service providers? Can I have a breakdown on that? If Ms Burke wants to provide a more detailed note after the meeting, that might be more helpful. Can she give a breakdown as to who those contractors...

Public Accounts Committee: Environmental Protection Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (18 Apr 2019)

David Cullinane: I have that. That is subject of a later question I intend to ask. I have separated consultancy from workers, contractors and external service providers.

Public Accounts Committee: Environmental Protection Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (18 Apr 2019)

David Cullinane: How much?

Public Accounts Committee: Environmental Protection Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (18 Apr 2019)

David Cullinane: For the Marine Institute?

Public Accounts Committee: Environmental Protection Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (18 Apr 2019)

David Cullinane: I will deal will with the issue of wastewater later. I have a number of questions on that.

Public Accounts Committee: Environmental Protection Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (18 Apr 2019)

David Cullinane: That was my point. Regarding the more than €8 million incurred, is that accounted for by the EPA subcontracting or outsourcing work that it is not in a position to do itself? With respect to the reference to contractors and external service providers, the obvious question I have is why the expertise is not available in-house. Why must we outsource that level of cost and spend? Is...

Public Accounts Committee: Environmental Protection Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (18 Apr 2019)

David Cullinane: I understand what the agency does but the issue is why it is done and why it is done in that way because we consider the value for money context. If we are spending millions of euro and Mr. Burke's organisation is subcontracting work to be done by outside organisations, I would like to know why that is being done. Is it for the purpose that the agency wants to get independent outside...

Public Accounts Committee: Environmental Protection Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (18 Apr 2019)

David Cullinane: That is my point. Ms Burke is the head of the organisation and oversees a spend of more than €8 million on outside contractors and external service providers. At a strategic level, has the EPA examined whether there might be better value for money in getting in-house expertise to do some of this work in the future? I understand that one-off projects might require very specialist...

Public Accounts Committee: Environmental Protection Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (18 Apr 2019)

David Cullinane: It is not a critical question. I am curious about the breakdown. Perhaps Ms Burke could provide the committee with a detailed breakdown of these contractors and external service providers. Who are they? What work do they do? Perhaps we can have a look at that ourselves.